During the Pomona Festival, orchard owners and farmers pay homage to Pomona by adorning their orchards with garlands of flowers and colorful ribbons. The festivities commence with a grand procession, where individuals present offerings of apples and other harvest fruits to Pomona’s sacred altar. Pomona was the goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards. Unlike many other Roman goddesses and gods, she does not have a Greek counterpart, though she is commonly associated with Demeter. She watches over and protects fruit trees and cares for their cultivation. She was not actually associated with the harvest of fruits itself, but with the flourishing of the fruit trees. In artistic depictions she is generally shown with a platter of fruit or a cornucopia. The festival also features lively music and dancing, captivating performances by local artists, and the sharing of delicious apple-based dishes and drinks. It is a time for joyous revelry, expressing gratitude for a prosperous harvest, and invoking Pomona’s blessings for future abundance. The Transformation of Pomona’s Festival into Modern-Day Traditions Almost all new plants will benefit from rootgrow™ but there are a few exceptions: blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries, rhododendrons, azaleas, heathers & brassicas. It should be noted that using rootgrow™ on these plants will not harm them - it just won’t work. Pomona Has Appeared in Art and Popular Culture Monna Pomona, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1864. Source: Tate Gallery, London.

The Goddess of Abundance Vertumnus and Pomona, Paulus Moreelse, 1650. Source: Rotterdam-Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. Over the centuries Pomona has been an immensely popular muse, inspiring a great many artists and writers, particularly from the 16 th to the 19 th century. These include Peter Paul Rubens, who depicted the wood nymph’s cherubic, innocent beauty, and later Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and William Morris, who reveled in the goddess’s close associations with the vibrant, lively fertility of the natural world which so closely chimed with their artistic interests. Pomona’s beauty and significance as a goddess have captured the imagination of artists throughout the ages. In contemporary art, references to Pomona can be found in various forms, including paintings, sculptures, and illustrations. A very heavy cropping dessert apple producing red striped fruits. Crisp and juicy with a refreshing fruity flavour. Easy to grow and ideal as a garden variety. Produces a compact tree. Good resistance to late frosts. Season: Oct - Dec. Self-fertile.Grow your own delicious strawberries. Planted before the end of July, you will reap your first harvest this summer! This collection consists of 18 summer fruiting strawberry plants, 6 each of the following: Her emphasis on proper pruning and grafting techniques has contributed to the development of effective horticultural practices. Today, her legacy can be observed in the meticulous care given to orchards and the cultivation of thriving fruit-bearing trees. References to Pomona in Contemporary Art and Entertainment A Wood Nymph Pomona Encircled by a Garland of Fruit, Studio of Frans Snyders, 17th century. Source: Christie’s.

An excellent pear often grown commercially and suitable for most locations. Raised from a cross between Doyenné du Comice and Conference, it has inherited the best attributes from both its parents. The medium-large pale green fruits have a smooth, juicy flesh with a sweet pleasant flavour. Suitable for dessert and culinary use. Crops heavily and reliably from an early age. Season: Oct - Jan. Self-fertile.The town of Pomona Park, Florida in Putnam County is named after the goddess of fruit from the time citrus horticulture dominated the economy of the area. [9] The most widely grown early dessert apple in the UK, raised in Essex c1949. Bright scarlet fruits. Crisp and juicy with a distinctive flavour. Stores very well for an early variety. Resistant to scab and mildew. Can be grown throughout the UK. Season: late Aug - Sept. Walter Sheppard, Marina Meixner (2003). "Apis mellifera pomonella, a new honey bee subspecies from Central Asia" (PDF). Apidologie. 4 (34): 367–375. doi: 10.1051/apido:2003037 . Retrieved 13 January 2023.

While the ancient Pomona Festival holds its roots in Roman tradition, it has influenced various customs and practices that continue to thrive in modern times. One such example is the playful tradition of apple bobbing during Halloween parties. We can confidently say this is the ‘new garden Cox’ but unlike this classic vintage variety, Christmas Pippin is very easy to grow and produces reliable, heavy crops countrywide. The eating quality is exceptional, characterised by a sweet and aromatic flavour, lovely perfume and a very pleasant honey after-taste. The fruits are crisp and juicy with a melt in the mouth texture that makes each bite increasingly more pleasurable. Christmas Pippin is a ‘foundling’ having been spotted by a fruit expert by the side of a busy road. A natural seedling of rare and special qualities, most likely arising from a discarded apple core ... perhaps from the very fine Cox’s Orange Pippin itself, with which we dare to compare this very special new introduction. Season: early Oct - Dec. Requires a pollinator (such as Herefordshire Russet). Grow your own delicious strawberries. Planted before the end of July, you will reap your first harvest this summer! This collection consists of 24 summer fruiting strawberry plants, 12 each of the following: This wonderful dessert apple is over 100 years old. It is an excellent alternative to Cox as it is much easier to grow and is particularly recommended for the north where it is a popular garden variety. Crisp red-flushed fruits. Intensely rich and aromatic with a hint of aniseed. Highly resistant to scab and mildew. Very attractive blossom. Season: late Sept - late Oct. Self-fertile. The UK’s best known plum, raised in 1840 and grown commercially. The fruits are pinkish red with sweet, yellow, juicy flesh. A very popular dessert variety but also excellent cooked, producing a lovely pink syrup and almond aroma. Heavy cropping. Blossom is frost resistant. Season: late Aug. Self-fertile.In 2003 a newly discovered honey bee ( Apis mellifera) subspecies was named after Pomona being called the Apis mellifera pomonella, it was discovered in the Tien Shan Mountains, an area with the greatest genetic diversity for a wild Malus species, M. sieversii, that is the predominant ancestor of domesticated apple varieties which are typically pollinated by honey bees on a commercial scale. [10] Representations in art [ edit ] A bronze statue of Pomona sits atop the Pulitzer Fountain in Manhattan's Grand Army Plaza in New York. The fountain was funded by newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer, designed by the architect Thomas Hastings, and crowned by a statue conceived by the sculptor Karl Bitter. [11] The fountain was dedicated in May 1916. Michaels, Brian E. (1976). The River flows North: A history of Putnam County, Florida. Palatka, Florida: Putnam County Archives and History Commission. p.212. ASIN B00072QEFQ.